SPRINGFIELD - Chartering along on its undefeated journey, the Belchertown’s boys’ basketball team knew each game would be the next toughest thus far, as was the case Friday night at the Spalding HoopHall Classic.

Employing tough man defense along with scrappy play all night, the Orioles held on for a hard-fought, floor-burn ridden 44-39 win over Division II foe Hoosac Valley last night at Blake Arena at Springfield College.

With the win against its toughest matchup of the season, the Orioles remained perfect at 9-0 while the Hurricanes dropped to 4-4.

Starting with a full-court press in the first quarter, Belchertown couldn’t let up the entire game as Hoosac kept finding ways to creep back -at one point taking the lead in the second half-and make this game go down to the end.

‘It was a well-fought game. This was the toughest team we have faced so far. They didn’t have their starting guard tonight, so that changed our game plan. When I guarded the point, they couldn’t really get their offense going. We haven’t seen a defense like theirs yet this season,” Gooden said.

Belchertown’s Dan Johnson sealed the win making both end of a one-and one with 10 seconds remaining for a 44-39 lead. Hoosac lost the ball out of bounds before having to foul Johnson on the inbounds.

Hoosac took a 36-33 lead early in the fourth quarter, on two consecutive nifty inside scores by Dalton Martinelli. Another offensive rebound by Andrew Harmon gave Hoosac a 38-35 edge with 4:50 remaining. Harmon key a few runs during the game with his inside presence throughout the game.

“We didn’t play too well in the first half, and coach called a few sets for the forward in the second half. We also didn’t handle the ball well,” Harmon said.

Hoosac committed 31 turnovers for the game compared to 18 for Belchertown.

Johnson scored a jumper for a 39-38 lead with 4:10 remaining in the game.

Gooden then followed with a transition bucket for a 41-38 lead. Hoosac hit one more free throw the rest of the way, going scoreless in the last two minutes of play Maintaining the tightly contested theme of the game, Harmon scored two consecutive buckets in the paint to tie the game 28-28 in the early going of the third quarter.

The Hurricanes relied on the strong inside pay of senior big man Ethan Harmon, getting position inside for key offensive boards including a bucket with 25 seconds left in the first half to get Hoosac within 26-21. Harmon, along with fellow big man and twin brother Andrew Harmon led the Hurricanes with five points each in the first half.

Gooden led the Orioles with nine points at the break, scoring in the lane along with his outside range working in the first half.

After a miss on the Belchertown end, Hoosac’s Slayter Aubin hoisted a deep three-about seven feet behind the line- to get his team within 26-24 at the break Belchertown continued to rely on up-tempo play, as Nate Conner converted a transition lay-up off a Hoosac turnover for a 26-19 Oriole lead, forcing the Hurricanes to call their first full time out of the game with 1:27 remaining in the first half.

Hot with the shot behind the arc as of late, Belchertown continued to use the 3-pointer to beat the Hoosac zone look, as Gooden sank his second trey of the first half for a 20-16 Belchertown edge with 5:41 remaining in the first half.

The Orioles led 15-11 after the first quarter, paced by a 2-3 zone to thwart the Hurricanes as well as running a full court press early.